I have one more gun and crew and another two units of Scots then this collection is done (for the time being….).

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

There is a large and varied lot sitting on my workbench at the moment… Dark Age Normans… Ancient Greek… Great War British and Canadians… 1812 British and Militia… Which will be the first that I complete in 2012…? Guess you’ll just have to stay tuned to find out!

The rest of the army might take a while… It’s not a high priority. Though I may do one stand of hoplite, just for giggles….

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I’ve finished up the last of the Renegade early Great War British infantry… (see them here in a moment of two) and started basing and prepping the Great War Miniatures early war Scots and later war British/Canadians…

I’ve been thinking about digging out the T-34s from my WW2 28mm Soviets and the British Commandos from the Modern 28mm stuff… both those are the only things left in both “collections” that are unfinished and it’d be nice to say “I’m done with those’… again… There’s so many things that are so close to being “done”… some would take a week… some would take two or three…. I should really do a big stocktaking again and compile a “BIG TO DO” list. Of course a lot of those nearly finished project have nothing to do with what I’m planning for this year… and I’ve got a lot of painting to do to get what I need done for this year… ugh..

Of course now I have another unit of early war Scots from Great War Miniatures (as well as a unit of Highlanders) to do… (see previous post)

I also happen to finish up some WW2 Soviet Officers:

These are from Crusader Miniatures. My friend Mr. Miller found them in a bargain bin in some store in Vancouver a week or so ago while he was visiting and picked them up for me. I knocked them off because… well.. they’re quick and easy and every other 28mm WW2 Soviet figure I have is painted… I couldn’t have four unpainted infantrymen hanging over my head when the rest of the collection is completely painted… (Well… at least all the foot… I think there’s a couple of three T-34s to assemble and paint…)

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Last night I finished up some skirmishers for an DBA Greek Hoplite Army, which should be up on Analogue Hobbies today (and here tomorrow).

Rapidly approaching completion are the last of the Renegade early Great War British infantry… gunners are getting there too… Invading the workbench are some more Greeks (Hoplites!) – though I need to manufacture some spear for them. After polishing off those British infantrymen tonight I’ll probably spend a bit of time manufacturing a whole lot of spears for the Hoplites and Normans and them prepping, priming said Hoplites and Normans as well as the Great War Minis…

I have some more Great War Scots I’m finishing up this evening and some WW2 Soviet Officers. After that…? Hard to say… I have a lot more Great War stuff I’ve been prepping and priming over the last couple days… some Ancient Greeks… I should probably get cracking on some Dark Age types – the Scots and some Anglo-Saxons I need to finish up… a few other odd and sudry items are littering my workbench and threatening to distract…

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Suddenly keen on finishing up some Great War stuff… (probably because I just ORDERED a bunch MORE Great War stuff…). This threatens to derail my plans I should really be painting those DARK AGE Scots (for the DBA campaign in February) and 1812 infantrymen (for Queenston Heights in the fall)!

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

These Jocks are also from Renegade Miniatures. I really like these models – nice clean (if a bit exaggerated) details – totally easy to paint. No guessing involved.

Their backsides…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

Prepping and priming loads more great war stuff… not sure what I’ll paint next. Probably some of the Great War stuff...?

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Well I don’t have the highlanders to show you yet. I’m supposed to wait 24 hours after Curt posts them over at Analogue Hobbies for them to count in the2nd Annual Winter Painting Challenge. He’s holding off on posting them right away… something about demoralizing all the other participants… I can post today's pics because they won't be counted - as they were (mostly) painted before the start of the challenge.

Anyway, I decided I needed some officers for the Highlanders and Scots. As Renegade doesn’t make their own I decided to convert some.

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

These are converted Renegade Miniatures British officers (From WW1B04 British Command – I can’t seem to find the post where I originally painted them…) Anyway, I carved off their Service Dress Caps and for the Highland unit’s officer I modeled a Tam and painted his pants tartan to look like trews (though, technically, I think he should be wearing a cut-away jacket with them – it seemed like it would be to fiddly to try and carve away part of his jacket and pockets…). For the Scots officer I added a Glengarry…

As the rest of the Scots arrived yesterday. I stuck them to bases last night and will probably prime them today sometime and get cracking on them tomorrow to finish up that unit!

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

On the workbench, much like yesterday, War of 1812 British Infantry and Militia (though they are now primed), 20mm British Paras, other assorted and sundry articles… and now some of the recently arrived Renegade models…

As Amanda’s got a week off I should get some extra painting time in – and I’ll probably use it to the fullest – not really just to demoralize my fellow competitors – but just to get some stuff DONE as I imagine my painting time is going to diminish some in the new year…

Friday, December 23, 2011

As promised here are the War of 1812 Militiamen I made. As with the British Infantryman I had a lot of miscasts – I’d cast over twice as many as I’ve painted here (and some of these even have flaws). I think I figured out what the issue was and hopefully next time I get to casting I won’t have so much trouble!

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

1812 Militiamen modeled, moulded, cast and painted by yours truly.

Unlike the Regular Infantry which I am basing 8/base, these fellows I’ve decided to do 6/base. Mostly because as militia I imagine they weren’t drilled as well as the Regulars and their lines would be a little more loose.

These could really be from either side of the border, but in my minds eye I imagined them being from Upper Canada…

This is a Renegade Miniatures early Great War Royal Artillery 18-Pounder QF Field Gun. I have a second one on the work bench… I’d tried to do them both at the same time, but got bogged down on fht efirst gun and just wanted to finish it up quick to keep the momentum going… hopefully I’ll keep it going enough to get the second gun finished…

Anyone know what type of shell that gunner is holding?

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

I have a PILE of Great War Highlanders that I finished up last night. You should be able to see them posted at Analogue Hobbies shortly… What those Jocks need is an officer. Renegade doesn’t (currently) make any Highland officers. I do have some spare Renegade British Officers and I was thinking I could paint one in trews. Can anyone out there confirm or deny that Higland officers did such a thing…? I’m pretty sure I read in Wellington’s Highlanders that officers in kilted regiments during the Napoleonic era often (or were even required to?) wear trews – because they often had to ride horses. Was this regulation/tradition carried on into the Great War…? I may just do that anyway… of course I’d probably have to do some converting as all those officers are in SD caps and the Highland officers would probably have worn Glengarries or Balmorals…

Ugh… too… many.. late… nights… I’ll post them tomorrow… and then I’m going to have to take a break from the late (like up until 2am) nights… I gotta slow down and pack myself here… (although it would be cool to finish up 1000 foot figures this year – only ~150 to go… seven days… 20/day….? I COULD probably do it… of course it would mean ignoring my family for the week…)

On the workbench I do have some more 1812 British Infantry and Militia (had a bit better success with the second lot of casting.

I also have some 20mm WW2 stuff I was admiring TimmyD’s entry to The Challenge and thinking I didn’t have much to finish up my (re-organized and re-based) Para battalion.

That second Royal Artillery 18-pounder is also still sitting there and has been joined by some Great War German Casualties is also

Happy Whatever To Me...

Two of my biggish orders arrived today! There's Renegade - mostly Great War Stuff and a few marching Napoleonic British - and there's North Star #2 - a couple of ready made armies for some game or another that I'm going to use to make a DBA Greek Hoplite Army and some Warlord Games partisan types... Huzzah!

I don't even want to think about how that's going to rack up my "purchased" column for this year, though...

Thursday, December 22, 2011

You (and I) will be experiencing a bit of time-delay for the next three months. As part of the Analogue Hobbies2nd Annual Winter Painting Challenge all entries must be posted there first and allow 24 hours before posting them on our own blogs… So I was done these chaps yesterday… and they were posted on Anologue Hobbies HERE

Well the not-so-kilted guys are supposed to be Early War Scots and, I think, are supposed to be wearing Glengarries like the Lowland Scots I did last week. When I went to prime them I realized they weren’t in Glengarries but some sort of Field Service Cap (Which I didn’t even think was used in the Great War…?) – after I’d started painting I notice a little bit of a loop hanging off the back of the head and at first thought might be some flash I'd missed, but on further inspection realized it was probably put there on purpose and supposed to be the tails of a Glengarry!? So it was either carve off the tails and use them as guys in a Field Service Cap OR carve of the wings and call it a Glengarry… well it looked more like a FS caps so I carved off the loop/tail-thingie… I’m guessing the sculptor had already done a team in FS caps and thought it’d be a quick easy job to re-do them as Scots in Glens…? but… well… forgot to file off the wings and buttons and stuff.. Or did a head swap with the other Great War Vickers team – but grabbed the wrong head and tried to fix it by adding a tail to an FS cap and hoped no one would notice…? I have no idea…

I’m not terribly concerned These’ll probably see more action as Army of the Scottish Republic in the 1938 Civil War – and by then the British Army definitely WAS using Khaki FS Caps…

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

As I mentioned you can see the 1812 Milita I painted last night over at Analogue Hobbies today (and here tomorrow). The kiddies are sleeping at my folks tonight so I’m gonna git some stuff FINISHED! I have some Highland Infantry rapidly approaching completion and a second 18-pounder with crew, primed, assembled and on the workbench…. then…? Some sculpting to do…? More casting…? We shall see…

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

As I mentioned in the previous post I finished up some moulds of the first batch of 1812 infantry and got casting them last night. Unfortunately all of the British regulars were miscast – the one, below, was the least messed up so I primed and painted him anyway just to see what he’d look like. (I’ve sorted out the casting issue and should be cranking more of these out shortly…). Before I get to basing and presenting entire units I’m going to have to make a flank company figure, an ensign, and an officer… and maybe a drummer…?

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

War or 1812 British Infantryman (41st Regiment of Foot) - modeled, moulded, cast and painted by yours truly…

…and the backside…

Well, obviously, I ain't no Perry Brother... but when there's a hundreds of them on the table in dense formation... who's going to notice?!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Some of you may recall about… oh… TWO YEARS AGO I painted a stand of Spartans to help get my friend Jackson's Early Greek Hoplite army started… Well he FINALLY completed them and brought them out for their first game last night… (I think the figures were painted nearly a year ago… and, after watching 300 again a month or so back, he finally got to finishing up the bases!)

Not having an Early Greek Hoplite army to oppose him…. yet… or even any of the multitude of ancient armies I have ready to paint completed… (Well I do have the Early Imperial Romans… but they’re few hundred years later and nothing like what the hoplite would have fought…) I busted out some Middle Anglo-Saxons… even later than the Romans, but the same make up as a number of other Hoplite armies:

FORCES

Middle Anglo-Saxons1x Spear General9x Spear2x Psiloi

Early Greek Hoplite - Spartans1x Spear General11x Spear

THE GAME

(Remember: click on the pictures for a bigger version)

Spartans defending the… er… well… Sparta, I guess…?

The Saxons advance.

Psiloi attempting to be a nuisance.

The lines close.

BA-DAM! With a thunderous din of metal on metal the antagonists clash! Lots of shoving back and forth, and in that first round I killed his general…

First Turn… First game… Dead General…

Luckily later in the bound the Spartans also got lucky and took out one of my own spear and so the game went on – though with the Spartans suffering in the PIP department due to the loss of their general.

Well, all I had to do to end the game victorious was to knock out one more stand of spear (Dead General + more lost than the enemy = game over)… but the Spartans seemed to be a bit angry and kept destroying MY stands?!

More Shoving back and forth.

Saxons even up the score….

Spartans take out another Saxon…

Battle lines looking a mess.

Saxons even up the score again – with some cagey maneuvering of Psiloi behind the Spartan line!

Even more of a mess.

Now way out on the end I had a bit of an exposed flank and Jackson was finally able to turn it. Which could have spelt disaster and loss for the Saxons. However I had one Spear in the middle of the line isolated and overlapped on both sides… That didn’t work out. then we rolled for the flanked stand at the end of the line…

50% chance he’s going to push me back into my own guys and that’ll be it Saxons lose 4-3…

Well not only did the Saxons not die… they rolled a six… to Jackson’s one… and utterly DESTROYED the Spartan Spear and that was the end of that… The Spartans gave up the field!

I can hardly say they lost because they were green and un experienced… despite the loss of their general in the first round and a more or less uphill battle they fought like deamons from the pits of hell and sold themselves dearly…

GAME #2

Well that was quick so we had another round. This time Rick wanted to play and with something a little more fantastical. Rick took the mounted Orc army- going for mobility along with some hard-hitting behemoths. Jackson ended up defending and threw a river out there. I made a few cracks about “Defending the HOTT river, where their mobility counts for nothing…”

The Spartans advance to the river and the Orcs and allies paraded back and forth along the river trying to find a place to cross where there wasn’t Spartans.

Seriously, there was WAAAAAAAAAY too much moving back and forth along the river bank - they didn’t seen to get that on a 90cm wide battlefield… with an army taking up 66cm of that… and it taking at least two turns to cross once committed… There was just NO WAY they were going to get across anywhere that wasn’t defended!

More of the same.…

Back…

and forth…

Finally Rick committed his behemoths and archers and tried to bludgeon their way across. The Behemoth/Giant General has some limited successs, but the archers were destroyed in the crossing

The Spartans closed ranks and the Giant was eventually forced back into the river.

Then the Trolls were destroyed…

Rick finally committed his wolves and wolf riders.

…and they were destroyed…

one…

by…

one…

Spartans won this one – with no losses! If this is how they do on their first outing, they will definitely be a force to be reckoned with!

Coming soon on Tim’s Miniature Wargaming Blog:

More pictures of whatever I happen to be painting and blathering about plans for the new year…